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(Cihan News Agency (Turkey) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- The business community of crisis-ridden Europe might do well to adopt the "sense for entrepreneurship" developing in Turkey's own business ranks, said Swedish Trade Minister Ewa Björling during a visit to Istanbul over the weekend.

"Europe should learn from Turkey the sense for entrepreneurship it so needs during the crisis," she said in comments carried by the Anatolia news agency during a meeting for the Swedish Sustainable Business Community in Turkey.

Sponsored by Kadir Has University, the meeting also saw the Swedish minister discuss a possible partnership between Swedish and Turkish telecom firms to build a Turkey-wide 4G network. "Telecommunication is a critical sector. It's important that the Turkish government starts discussions on implementing the new generation of 4G services," she said, referring to the fourth generation phone service which provides high-speed Internet and data transfers. "Today there is 3G but just as has been done in Sweden, Turkey should consider going to the next generation."
Wind and other renewable sources of energy would also benefit from collaboration between Turkish and Swedish businesses, the minister said, stating that she looked forward to watching the growth of renewables in one of Europe's sunniest and windiest countries.

The minister predicted that the number of Turkish firms operating in Sweden would increase as well as Turkish business expanding its international reach. One development likely to help, she said, was a recent deal signed between the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Swedish Consulate to strengthen bilateral business by easing visa restrictions for Turkish businesspersons headed to Sweden.

The rise in economic ties speaks to the continuing integration of a rising Turkey into Europe, Björling said, stating that an aging Europe will likely need the young pool of labor which will be abundant in Turkey over at least the next two decades. That is why Sweden's labor law is the "most open in the continent," suggested the minister, who argued that "it is because we need more people from abroad, young people who can work in Sweden. … Turkey would be a natural source for that."
The minster also used the occasion to reiterate Sweden's long-standing support for Turkey's EU bid, which the minister said was based on the country's growing regional profile and its important location between Europe and the Middle East. "Turkey is a large and very import country. … Turkey being in the EU is especially important for Europe given its proximity to the Middle East," she said. "As I've said before, Sweden has supported and will always support Turkey's EU bid." (Cihan/Today's Zaman) CIHAN
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